Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1887-12-28
THE cowsoY DIALECT.
Some of The Queer WOr Is and Phra ses
Used i'm the Far West.

Sw nburne. Passing over the first page
of his paper, which very interestingly
traces the origin of the place.names in the
vicinity of the Rockies, we come, says the
Philadelphia Record, to the class of words
that have sprung up among cattle-owners
and cowboys TO designate the various
acts and general conduct of their occupa-
tion, which the writer asserts have never
been ca.alogued. The terms rounding
up," and branding" are too we'll known
to be dealt upon. "Bucker," meaning a
refractory animal, is also in ordinary use
In the East, being generally applied to re-
| fractory politicians. The cook on a ranch
is called a "rustler," and the term is also
| applied to any uncomm only active man,
and its sense has been still further ampli-
ned so that it may mean thief. "Pil.
| grim" and "tenderfoOt," originally ap-
piled to newly-imported cattle, but now it
means all newcomers, whether two or four
legged. ITO go over the range'' was al SO
once limited to cattle, but now men as
web as beasts that die "go over the
range" in cowboy parlance. "Roped in"
has also come to be of common use. Steers
are ''roped IN" for the purpose OF brand .
ing; men are often "roped inn to their
disadvantage. The epithet thorough
bred" applied to a fine woman is very
commonly used in the West, but the
| English also use the word in the same
! sense.
The writer gives the following short OF
ordinary cowboy words:
Brand, noun and verb; brand -bo ok
! containing the recorded brands of the
county; branding-chute, branding iron,
counterbrand, V. and n, flying brand,
laZy-brand; brand-buuch, small herd OF
cattle; bunch grass; crease, V. t.. to stun
horse or steer by blow in the neck ir
order to catch him; cut our, to separate
an animal from the herd; cutting horse;
crop, N. and v, an earmark, or to ma ke a
mark by cutting the ear; dewlap, a cut in
the lower part of the neck; vent, brand
announcing sale; single bob, a slit ear
dropping down. Oshsr marks signify
ing ownership are over-bit, over r-hack,
over-half-crop, Sverslope, swallow-fork,
under-bit, under-hack, etc. These are
mostly technical, but thu common terms
are almost equally unfamiliar-such as
grade, adj, and ", improved cattle;
grass-cattle, fed only on grass; hacka-
more, bride made of horse hair; heel, to
! lariat an animal by the hind leg; hondou
derivation unknown, though probably
from Spanish honda, the eve of the
needle), the slip-knot of the lariat,
paunch, to shoot a refractory steer
through the paunch, producing temporary
| qnletude; slicker, a waterproof coat:
string, a small collection of horses or
steers; strins-beam, pair of horses or
mules iii long succession; tail, to hold a
steer down by the tail after it is assoed
and heeled; trail, II. and "; trail-cattIe,
tral-cinch; wrangler a dog -herder:
wrangle-footed, mixture of several gaits
The list is by no means complete, but il
ulor
terms in use.
The class of words draw from the
Spanish is more numerous and more in
teresting. Ranch, from rancho, mean in 2
mess, is commonly applied by the herder
to his companions; so is "outfit;" vamos,
to clear out; ranchero is the steward of
the mess; vaquero is the herder; COM
panero, partner, and compadre, friend
The adobe of which the COWBOYS house is
built is known by its Spanish name alone.
He calls his stove an estufa; eats tortilIas,
in other words oe-cake; wears a serape
"a light striped wooden shaw) over
his shoulders; calls his fields of lucern
fields of alfalfa, dried-up creek an ARA
vos, deep holes made by the mountain
flood barrancas, and water canals (used
for irrigation) acequias. Any collection
of trees, brambles or bushes is a chaparral,
ed into ''bailee' among COWBOYS, is allied
to our ball; but it means also sheriff
(bailiff), which is significant. The con-
nection between balls and bailiffs in Ne W
Mexico is, unfortunately, more intimate
and frequent than would be thought de-
sirable in Boston and New York.
Loco is Spanish word signifying mad,
crack-brained. A plant of the plains
which is poisonous to cattle, producing
symptoms Of insanity, is called loco
weed. From the substantive a verb
sprang into use. Cattle showing signs of
madness are said to be 'locoed,' and sc
finally the word extended to human be.
ings. Some have derived these meanings
from the plant itself. as il it had origin
ally borne the name 'loco;' but this is in
correct, the real process having been just
the reverse of it,"
Cuddy and burro are the two epithets
which distinguish the small donkey. But
the cowboy is getting to like the well.
bred horse better, and the burro's day of
popularity is gone. 1t is in relation to his
horse and trappings that the cowboys
Spanish vocabulary is particularly rich.
Preparatory to saddling the buckamore,
which is said to come from the Spanish
jaquima. halter-on the plains usual ly
wrought of twisted harris thrown over
his head and firmly tied. Then the sad
dle-blanket is thrown over his withers, wi tn
sometimes tilpah, or parti-colored rug.
woven and dyed by the Navajo or Taos
Indians ;and over this the saddle-the huge
Mexican saddle, or perhaps the McC elan
army saddle. Ii it is the former, it has to
be "cinched." This is from the Spanish
substantive cincha, meaning a belt or
girdle; cinchar, to girdle. To ''cinch" a
horse is by no means the same as girthing
him. The two ends of the tough cordage
which constitute the ''cinch" terminate in
long, narrow strips of leather, called
latigos Spanish thongs) which con-
meet the "cinches" with the saddle,
and are run through an iron ring. called,
if l remember correctly, the largo ring,
though why deponent saith not, and
then tied by a series of complicated turns
and knots. Sometimes there is a cource
or leather cover to protect the saddle. A
pack saddle is an aparejo. The stout
leather trousers for rough weather are
called chaps, contracted from chaparro.
A jacket of the same material is some
times worn, cut short in the jaunty
Spanish fashion, and braided Just "a YOU
see them in the streets of Seville. Add to
these the woolen shirt, gray in color and
laced in 'front.' the high boots, the sash.
and the great jingling spurs, and you
have of the other apparel OF the herders
nearly every thing except the quirt, the
reata, the latigos AMI the tapadsros.
Quirt is probably Spanish also, If we may
now have to find its Spanish equivalent
in cuerda, rope; it is short whip, made
generally of dressed leather, woven into
many curious shapes. The rope used to
tie horses with is a lariat or conyesta.
Tapaderos and latiQos are both apDiied to
foot covering, and the cowboy never
wears a hat, always a sombero.
THE following amusing account OF a
groom's trepidation is given IN the Roches-